Meal Plans

A friend of my sister's starting putting her meal plans for the week up on her blog a while back. I thought it was great but wondered how she had the time! Well, now that I have been eating gluten free for almost 2 months (more on that later), I have found that I have to be more prepared for dinners or I won't eat! I can't just run down to Wendy's if I don't feel like cooking. (Well, I can, but I prefer not to!) Anyways, I thought I would share my plans and recipes, and recipes I steal from others. Enjoy!

By the way, I dont' always follow the days to a "T". I usually end up feeling different and switching them around.

Also, I just realized this is an especially Italian heavy week. I think I watched too many episodes of Giada's show last week. I also have a couple weeks past that I will post when I get to it.

Monday-Portebello Parmesean (like Chicken Parmesean with Portebellos), grilled zucchini

For the grilled zucchini i slice the zucchini lengthwise, drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. I just grill them for about 5 min each side till they are a little mushy but still have a firmness to them. Feel free to sprinkle these with parmesean too! Pretty good and surprisingly good as leftovers. I thought they would be chewy but they weren't at all.

Tuesday- Migas from this fabulous web site. Fair warning, you may become addicted to reading her stuff, photography, cooking, farm life, this is a girl after my own heart. By the way, if you don't like brinner (read: breakfast for dinner) you may not dig this meal. Its not pancakes or anything but its a brinner meal all the way. These turned out great!

Wednesday- dinner out with friends

Thursday- Rachel Ray's Roasted tomato and garlic pasta (made with rice penne of course) and homemade meatballs. The link has her steaks, and feel free to make those too, I just couldn't find the recipes seperate.

For my meatballs, I use:

Ground chuck or ground turkey (1 lb)

About a 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (gluten free)

1 egg

handfull of basil, oregano, parsley

1 clove chopped garlic

1/2 tsp red pepper

salt and pepper

Combine ingredients with your hands, yes I said your hands. I have yet to find a kitchen tool that does better for meat stirring. Roll into 1" balls, put on cookie sheet and bake for about 30 minutes in a 350 oven. Please be sure to check for doneness, I don't promise my cooking time is accurate. Now, mix with pasta or cover with tomato sauce. Yum!

Yum, yum, and yum. I thought this dish was delicious. I added my meatballs to the pasta and sauce. The flavor was very sophisticated! Not at all like a normal tomato sauce.

Friday- Chicken with Mustard Marscapone Marsala Sauce This just looks yummy, no two ways about it. Not sure what veggie we will have with it. Maybe just mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. Yeah that sounds good.

Mashed Potatoes:

4-5 idaho potatoes cut into 1" or less cubes (this makes them cook faster, oh and you can leave the skins on if you like dirty mashed potatoes)

Sour Cream

Butter

Tony Cachere's Cajun seasoning

S & P

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water. Drain and add about 4 tablespoons of butter and 3/4 cup of sour cream. Again, I never measure this stuff so start small and add. Add in seasonings and mash to your hearts content. Sometimes I put cut up scallions and roasted garlic but I figure this chicken has too much flavor for that.